The invention relates to a vacuum skimmer for ponds, swimming pools or similar bodies of water or water containers, wherein the vacuum skimmer has an intake opening and a dirt collecting container arranged downstream for coarse materials, through which the water to be purified is sucked by means of a pump arranged downstream.
Such vacuum skimmers by which name they are known in practice serve for removing by suction dirt, for example, leaves, conifer needles, pollen, feathers, floating on a water surface so that the visible dirt is removed and it is prevented that these coarse materials sink to the bottom and enrich the water with too many nutrients so that the water becomes overgrown with algae and turbid. Vacuum skimmers are therefore particularly required for open air bodies of water.
For reasons of simplicity, conventional vacuum skimmers are often mounted rigidly on the edge of the pond or the swimming pool and have an opening facing the body of water through which the surface water is sucked in by means of a pump arranged downstream so that the dirt is collected in a dirt collecting receptacle. Sometimes the arrangement of the vacuum skimmer on the edge of the pond is not possible for visual reasons or because of the landscape conditions and sometimes also not expedient because of the geometry of the body of water. In these cases, vacuum skimmers are used that can be utilized at any desired location, for example, in the middle of the pond and therefore can suck in surface water from several directions. These vacuum skimmers have an annular intake opening. For adjustment to the water level, the intake rim is provided on a pipe that is height-adjustable relative to the remainder of the device. Such vacuum skimmers are either installed by means of a support leg on the bottom of the pond, or are floating devices as disclosed, for example, in DE 43 02 978 C2. As a result of leakage, caused by the height-adjustable pipe, pressure losses occur so that the efficiency is not optimal. In particular in the case of such floating vacuum skimmers, canting of the height-adjustable pipe can occur as a result of movement, possible air or water currents, or similar effects so that the suction action is no longer optimally uniform or it can even happen that the device will capsize. Moreover, the vacuum removal of dirt has been found to be unsatisfactory for maintaining the desired water quality.